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Hi

Going to be using herringbone purfling for the first time..
Anyone got any tips for shaping to body?
Should I use it dry on bending iron or soak it and try and shape it

Thanks

I dry bend it on an iron, maybe a spritz of water. If it is made by Gurian Instruments, I find it is easy to bend without delaminating. It does want to twist bending it on edge, but I still find it manageable. I know, at least at one time, Gurian supplied a lot of the lutherie outlets.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

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Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

i make my own herringbone and use Titebond 3. even with TB3 i prefer not to use water while bending it. what i found helpful was wrapping the HB in aluminium foil. It doesn't need much heat to bend, i keep my ibex iron around 4 (IIRC). of course it helps if it´on the thin side.

good luck!
miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

Using my router, I cut a channel to the shape I want (the channel depth is slightly less than the thickness of the purfling) and then use a clothing iron (no water) to make it take the shape of the channel. I then press it in the channel for like 15 mins with a piece of plywood or something.

I have done this many times. Soak for 10 minutes and bend to form. Let dry and that's it.







Michael